Becoming an aviation security assistant: training, certification and duties

You know them from every trip: the people at the screening lane who X-ray your backpack, check your camera bag for batteries and pat you down after the walk-through detector beeps. Anyone who wants to become an aviation security assistant (Luftsicherheitsassistent) lands in one of the few airport jobs for which you need neither a high school diploma for university entrance nor a degree – but you do need a clean record, good eyes and nerves for hundreds of passengers per shift. This guide explains the legal basis, the training, the exam and the daily work. And why the job is closer to the action than you might think for aviation fans.

Becoming an aviation security assistant: the short answer

You need at least 18 years of age, a lower secondary diploma (Hauptschulabschluss) or equivalent, a passed background check and medically confirmed fitness. Then you complete training of at least 280 instructional units with a security service provider, take a theoretical and a practical exam at the responsible aviation security authority and receive a certificate. Only with that may you screen passengers and baggage on your own.

“Aviation security assistant” is the common job title, not an official one. The ordinances speak soberly of aviation security screening personnel. The same is meant: the people at passenger and baggage screening.

Who actually works at screening

The legal basis is the Luftsicherheitsgesetz (German Aviation Security Act). Under § 5 LuftSiG, the aviation security authority may search or X-ray persons and items before they enter the security area. What that means for you as a spotter is explained in the article The Aviation Security Act explained, and the difference between the public area and the security area in Landside, airside, security area.

The authority does not have to carry out these checks itself, though. § 16a LuftSiG allows parts of the tasks to be transferred to private persons or companies – they then become entrusted parties (Beliehene) and are under the authority’s supervision. That is exactly how most aviation security assistants work: employed by a private security company, but deployed with a sovereign mandate. According to the Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies (BDLS), service providers at passenger and baggage screening work either on behalf of the Federal Ministry of the Interior under technical supervision of the Federal Police or on behalf of a state’s aviation security authority.

Besides passenger screening there are further fields of work, some with their own, shorter training courses:

Activity	Legal basis	Responsible according to BDLS	Minimum training (instructional units, IU)
Passengers, carry-on baggage, checked baggage	§ 5 LuftSiG	Federal government (Federal Police) or state	280 IU
Staff, goods and vehicle screening	§ 8 LuftSiG	Airport operator (self-protection)	Vehicles 40 IU, access and patrol 27 IU
Cargo and mail	§ 9 LuftSiG	Airlines (statutory duty)	150 IU, with X-ray or explosives detectors 200 IU
Onboard supplies and airport deliveries	§§ 8, 9 LuftSiG	Airport, airline	75 IU, with equipment 100 IU

The hours come from § 6 of the Aviation Security Training Ordinance (LuftSiSchulV). This article concentrates on classic passenger screening – the job most people mean by “aviation security assistant”. The European requirements behind it are summarized in EU Regulations 300/2008 and 2015/1998, the historical development in How September 11 changed aviation security.

The requirements

Formal minimum requirements

Annex 1 of the LuftSiSchulV names as a minimum an age of 18 years and a lower secondary diploma or a comparable qualification. The ordinance requires no further school or vocational qualifications. In practice, employers also expect solid German, because lessons, the exam and dealing with passengers build on it; English helps greatly in international operations.

Background check

Before you even start training, the background check under § 7 LuftSiG must be successfully completed – because in class you get insight into non-public information. The aviation security authority checks your identity, inquires with police and domestic intelligence authorities, obtains an unrestricted extract from the Federal Central Criminal Register and may contact former employers from the last five years. You submit the application yourself; by law the employer bears the costs.

As a rule, anyone is considered unreliable who was sentenced for an intentional offense to a prison or juvenile sentence or to a fine of at least 60 daily rates, and the conviction became final less than five years ago. For a prison sentence of at least one year, the period extends to ten years. The authority always considers the individual case, though.

Physical and mental fitness

The work is more strenuous than it looks from the outside: long standing, bending, lifting baggage, shift work with night duty and constant time pressure. That is why the ordinance prescribes a medical examination. For work at X-ray machines, the following count above all:

• Visual acuity: binocular at least 0.8, glasses or contact lenses are allowed. Being blind in one eye rules out work at the machines.
• Color vision: Tested with color plates and a color test. Anyone who makes more than two mistakes is unsuited for image analysis – X-ray images distinguish materials by color.
• Hearing: A hearing test is part of the examination for jobs involving noise.
• Grounds for exclusion: among others seizure disorders, pronounced mental illnesses, addictions and insufficiently controlled diabetes.

The examination is generally repeated every three years.

The training: 280 instructional units

Training does not take place at a vocational school but with the employer or a training facility commissioned by it. Only officially certified instructors may teach, and the content follows the requirements of the ordinance and the responsible authority. For screening passengers, carry-on baggage and checked baggage, § 6 LuftSiSchulV prescribes at least 280 instructional units of 45 minutes each – around 210 clock hours. How many weeks that turns into depends on the course model.

Typical content includes:

• Legal basics: Aviation Security Act, EU requirements, powers as an entrusted party and their limits
• Prohibited items: weapons, explosives, dangerous substances and how they can be disguised
• Technology: X-ray machines, walk-through detectors, handheld detectors and explosives detectors – how they work and their limits
• X-ray image analysis: the heart of it; you learn to read shapes and material colors in seconds
• Person and baggage screening: correct procedures for pat-downs and for re-checking bags
• Social skills: communication, de-escalation, dealing with conflicts and intercultural situations

Interesting for spotters: here you learn why batteries, lenses and cable tangles so often trigger re-checks in the X-ray image. Anyone who knows the perspective packs differently – tips in Camera gear in carry-on baggage.

Exam and certification

At the end comes the exam at the responsible aviation security authority. Depending on the constellation, that is the state’s authority, the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (Federal Aviation Office) or the Federal Police. The details are regulated by § 13 and Annex 5 of the LuftSiSchulV; the exact evaluation and screening procedures are classified.

The order is fixed: only those who passed the theory are admitted to the practical part. If you fail, § 14 LuftSiSchulV allows you to repeat each part once within six months. If that does not work either, you have to go through the complete training anew.

After the exam: endless continuing training

The certificate is not a free pass. According to Annex 6 of the LuftSiSchulV, screeners at X-ray machines are subject to annual continuing training of 48 instructional units:

Component	Instructional units per year
Theory (threat situation, regulations, technology, social skills)	9
Practice at the checkpoint with dummies	10
Situation training	2
Image recognition training	27

Image recognition training must not be less than one hour per month. In addition there is, at least every six months, a test with 20 X-ray images in 20 minutes; at least 75 percent correctly recognized images are required, otherwise targeted retraining follows. Anyone who has not practiced the activity for more than six months needs continuing training before returning.

In addition, the certificate must be recertified regularly: anyone who operates X-ray machines or explosives detectors needs this every three years according to Annex 5 of the LuftSiSchulV, otherwise a certificate is valid for five years. The employer submits the application at the latest three months before expiry; the authority assesses continuing training records and performance on the job. Those who operate X-ray machines additionally complete a standardized image analysis test for this – prohibited items must be recognized without exception here too.

Daily work at the screening lane

A screening lane is teamwork. Over a shift, you typically rotate between different positions: briefing passengers and preparing trays, evaluating X-ray images at the monitor, screening people at the walk-through detector and re-checking bags at the end of the lane. The rotation has a good reason: concentration at the screen declines over time.

Work is in rotating shifts with night work, because flight operations start early – the first wave of departures is often the hardest. During vacations you face long queues, and some passengers vent their frustration on you. De-escalation is therefore not part of the exam for nothing. The job also includes enforcing rules you did not make yourself: photography at the checkpoint, for example, is taboo – why is explained in Photography at security screening.

Pay generally follows collective agreements for aviation security and differs by activity and region. You will only learn specific amounts reliably from the job posting or from the employer.

What spotters bring

Honestly: spotting knowledge helps you little professionally at the screening lane. You look at X-ray images, not at engines. Still, you bring quite a bit. You know airports from the inside and outside, understand processes like the journey of a suitcase and have a feel for why security at the airport is taken seriously. Anyone who has ever experienced security approaching spotters knows the other side – and knows how much a friendly tone matters.

Spotters who stand attentively at the fence are, by the way, part of the security culture themselves. How that works is described in Spotters as security partners, and the technology behind the fences in How airport fences are secured.

And a practical advantage: anyone who works at the airport is quickly at the spot after the shift. At large airports such as Frankfurt Airport, Munich Airport or Hamburg Airport, the way to the well-known spotting locations is short.

Related ground jobs

If the apron appeals to you more, take a look at Working on the apron, apron control or the airport fire service. For a commercial apprenticeship there is the Servicekaufmann im Luftverkehr (air transport service clerk), and for those who want to aim higher, paths lead to Becoming an air traffic controller and Becoming a flight attendant.